LFH updates Grant’s whisky

Grant’s scotch whisky is relaunching its branding today with a new look designed by LFH.

The revamped packaging, graphics and identity is part of a wider £35m investment in the brand, which aims to strengthen positioning in emerging markets including Russia, without alienating established consumers in Europe.

The name ‘William’ has been dropped from the pack, as well as the founder’s picture.

LFH claims it is the first ‘wholesale review of the range to date’.

The consultancy, which also works with Coca-Cola and Carlsberg, won the project following a three-way strategic pitch against Williams Murray Hamm and Scarlett Webb in 2006.

LFH client services director Alastair Jones explains that the team was given a brief to ‘evolve the brand’ and create coherence across the premium and 12-year ranges.

‘The project was essentially to reassert confidence and authority in the brand,’ says Jones.

LFH has tweaked the brand marque, graphics and the bottle structure, as part of the project, overseen by Kate Athanasi, Grant’s global brand director.

According to Jones, the key change in the label graphics has been to the colour palette, replacing the previous ‘standard generic’ cream with a ‘strong burgundy’, evoking premium values, as well as richness and warmth.

The label, says Jones, is underpinned by a second black label aiming to create a point of differentiation.

The marque typography has also been modified to ‘stand taller, creating a more masculine look’, says Jones, while the iconic triangular Grant’s bottle, introduced back in 1957, has been given ‘stronger shoulders’.

Embossing on the bottle introduces tactile cues, attempting to reinforce care, quality and attention to detail.

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For the purposes of absolute clarity, WMH were not involved in this pitch. We were invited, but declined because the financial arrangements on offer, by the management team in place at the time, were wholly unacceptable to us.